Agricola Soi winery was founded in Nuragus in the Sarcidano region of Sardinia about 20 years ago by its founder Stefano Soi with the goal of evolving the concept of farming into agriculture.
Efisio, Stefano Soi's paternal grandfather, a man of austere bearing and a large nineteenth-century mustache, was one of the first oenologists of the Sardinian school and an agronomist throughout his long life at the Sarcidano Penal Colony and, in the latter part of his career, at that of Castiadas. Both places where inmates on semi-release, engaged in agriculture in order to redeem their turbulent past and pay off their debt to society.
Stefano, with father from Nuragus and mother from Tuscania, in the Maremma region of Latium, spent his adolescence on the Tuscan farm of his mother's brother, Uncle Gino, where he savored viticulture in all its phases, both in the vineyard and in the winery located on the hillside of the Monte Santo farm.
The love for viticulture did not wane even during the period of the break from the island, and led thanks to the fraternal advice of winemaker Angelo Agioi and journalist Gilberto Arru to the realization of the Agricola Soi winery project.
Stefano still practices the craft of architect and this caused the materials used in the construction of the winery are the same ones we find in his work to redevelop Sardinia's historic centers: stone, wood, steel, and sustainable insulators such as sheep wool and cork.
Agricola Soi's philosophy can be summed up in two words: belonging and respect.
Belonging to that microcosm of which Nuragus is the center: a town located in the heart of Sarcidano, devoted to agriculture and pastoralism and characterized by the cultivation of olive trees and vines, pasture and forage that shape its landscape.
Soil rich in loose skeleton or sand allows the vines to be dry-farmed and develop deep roots.
Until a few years ago, the production of a wine made from nuragus grapes, already known in Phoenician times, was very important; in the local language it was called Axina de margiani, "grape of the foxes," which gives the village its name.
Respectfor the winemaking tradition of its area of origin, by farm choice no water support, no fertilizer or chemical weed control is provided, only frequent mechanical and manual work and only native vines grafted in the field manually. These include cannonau, Sardinian bovale "muristellu," cagnulari, monica, Sardinian barbera, and nuragus.
Stefano Soi currently produces "SOI "Cannonau di Sardegna DOC, LUN, Isola dei Nuraghi IGT, NÉAil rosé Cannonau di Sardegna DOC, NURÀ the first Nuragus DOC bottled in the country, and finally, LILLÒ, a Cannonau DOC passito Vendemmia Tardiva.
